Image: Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The Ringling in Sarasota has opened 'Ancient Art from Cyprus and the Mediterranean', a permanent installation in Gallery 12 that presents 201 works from the museum’s collection of ancient Mediterranean art. The display is the latest phase of the museum’s multi-year project to reinstall all 21 permanent collection galleries of the Museum of Art. According to The Ringling, the installation highlights art from the island of Cyprus and includes sculptures in limestone and terracotta, ceramic vessels, glass, and gold and silver jewelry.
The works on view are drawn from The Ringling’s permanent collection of ancient Mediterranean art, and the museum says nearly all of them were purchased by John Ringling at auctions in 1928. The installation brings together objects of different types and materials to focus attention on Cyprus’s art history within the broader Mediterranean context. One featured object is a 'Grave stele of a reclining man' from Cyprus, dated to the early Classical period in the second half of the fifth century BCE.
The Ringling’s presentation is set in Original 21 Galleries, Gallery 12, and is included with museum admission. The museum describes the project as a long-term effort to refresh and reinterpret its permanent displays, and this Cyprus-focused installation continues that process by consolidating a large body of material into a single gallery setting. The event page notes the installation as “Now Open.”
The island-focused display also underscores the scope of the museum’s ancient holdings, which the institution describes as a permanent collection of ancient Mediterranean art. While the page emphasizes Cyprus, the selection ranges across sculpture, vessel forms, glass, and jewelry, suggesting a survey that is as much about material culture as about a single stylistic narrative. The emphasis on 201 works gives the installation unusual depth for a permanent-gallery presentation.
The accompanying object record provided by The Ringling traces the provenance of the 'Grave stele of a reclining man' from Luigi Palma di Cesnola’s collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, then to an Anderson Galleries sale, John Ringling’s purchase in 1928, and finally John Ringling’s bequest in 1936. That history appears alongside the installation as part of the museum’s interpretive framing for the gallery.
'Ancient Art from Cyprus and the Mediterranean' is now open in the Museum of Art, Original 21 Galleries, Gallery 12, at The Ringling in Sarasota.
